Nonprofit uses drumming to help vets

SANTA CRUZ &GT;&GT; It took less than half an hour for Jim Greiner to get a room full of people at the recently reopened Veterans Memorial Center in downtown Santa Cruz to make music harmoniously together. The Soquel-resident who travels the globe teaching people to play percussion instruments spent Saturday afternoon leading a Community Drumming Celebration for over three dozen people.

The event was hosted by Bridging Warriors, a nonprofit organization that serves as a resource center for Santa Cruz County Veterans. The organization provides an array of services to help veterans heal from the trauma of the battlefield. The community celebration was offered to let people know about their new home and to celebrate the reopening of the center, which had been closed for four years while the building underwent seismic improvements.

"Our wish is to really reach the veterans community as this will be a time to heal, celebrate and create," said Karen Egan, founder of Bridging Warriors.

Drumming is a way to achieve those goals, and to reintroduce the facility to the public, she noted. Others agreed.

"Rhythm is great because that's the foundation of healing," said Dan Libby, a psychologist and yoga teachers who has helped hundreds of veterans and active duty military personnel recover from post traumatic stress.

"Drumming is a very therapeutic tool," added Libby, who came to the event as a participant, not an instructor. "And it's super fun."

The celebration was open to both veterans and community members. Civilians were asked to pay $10, while there was no charge for veterans.

The drumming was even an enjoyable activity for the half dozen players who had admitted they had never played a percussion instrument before. Greiner introduced the group to a variety percussion instruments, including contemporary versions of djembes, a drum that was used in the ancient empire of Mali, frame drums that are played around the world, congas, shakers and tambourines. He demonstrated the fundamental techniques to make music out of the instruments, showed people how to relax and let their hands bounce off the head of the drum, and talked about the impacts drumming has had around the globe.

"Every culture has some sort of rhythm activity that brings people together ... to uplift and unify communities," he said. "It reinforces the three Cs; communication, collaboration and celebration."

Drumming also opens up people to grow and embrace new experiences, he said.

"I use the fundamentals of rhythm to incorporate and reinforce positive life skills and life rhythms," Greiner said. "Life rhythms are a pattern of attitude and action."

Before people started playing, Greiner instructed them to relax their shoulders, take a deep breath and release it. Participants complied, responding by saying "aaahhh" in unison as they exhaled. Once he felt the group was properly relaxed, he invited the people with djembes to begin playing. A minute or two later he instructed the people playing tambourines and hand drums to join in, followed by people using shakers. Smiles broke out around the room as people played together, and bobbed their heads and tapped their feet along with the rhythm.

Gail Williamson, a volunteer with Bridging Warriors, listened appreciatively to the sounds while welcoming people to the celebration. About one third of the people who had signed in for the drumming circle were veterans, she noted, with the rest community members.

"We're very pleased to have them all here because we're so new (to the reopened center)," Williamson said of the turnout.

The organization, which had been operated out of the Resource Center for Non-Violence on Ocean Street, moved into the center at the invitation of the Bill Motto Post, VFW 5888. The post, which has operated for over three decades, is sponsoring Bridging Warriors because the organization provides essential services to its members.

"We've been working hard to support the community any way we can," said Steve Bare, the president of the United Veterans Council. "Bridging Warriors reaches out to people."

Bridging Warriors offers a number of mind/body awareness classes, including meditation, yoga, and tai chi. It also hosts a music fusion group and provides free medical evaluations and alternative health care suggestions for local veterans.